Radiator-fin-forming machine



Oct. 27, 1925. 1,558,526 v M. WITTE RADIATOR FIN FORMING MACHINE Filed Aug. 20`. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 27, 1925.

M. W'TE RADIATOR FIN FORMING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Img/ia? M- ggyworneeys vf/t;

Filed Aug. 20, 1925 the same.

Patented 21,1925.

UNITED 'STATES REINHARD WITTE, 0l' IIIN'IiI'illAIEOLIS, HINNESOT mm'roarrN-romrmc MACHINE;

Application nled August 20, 1923. Serial No. 658,234.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, MEINHARD Wrrrn,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Mmnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Radiator- Fin-Fermin Machines; and I do hereby declare the ollowin to be a full, clear, and exact description o the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it 1`appertains to make and use the same. y present invention relates to machmes for forming radiator core lins out of thm sheet metal ribbons or strips and 1s particularly designed as an improvement on or addition to the machine for the above purpose-disclosed and claimed in In U. S. Letters Patent entitled Radiator ing machine, No. 1,484,600, issued Feb. 19, 1924. Y

In my said prior machine and the resent machine, there is a Vcorrugating mec anism and a' punchin mechanism, the latter receiving from t e former'. In the prior machine, however, the corru ated ribbon "was intermittently fed to t e punching.

mechanism by a manuall operated feed device requirilplg an atten ant to manipulate y present invention is direct-ed to an automatic ribbon-feeding device that is operated intermittently to feed the corrugated ribbon from the corrugating mechanism to 'the punching. mechanism and 1s operated with a properly timed action in respect to botho said mechanisms. Thls automatic feed device eliminates the necessity of an attendant and, hence, is an important labor-saving device.

In the accompanying drawings, whlch illustrate the inventlon, like characters indicatev like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the ribbon-corrugating mechanism, a-portion of the Aribbon-punching mechanism and the automatic ribbon-feeding device operatively associated with said two mechanisms;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing a portion of the ribbon-corrugating mechanism and a portion of the ribbonfeeding device;

Fi 3 is a fragmentary vertical section showmg the ribbon-feeding cross head, feed dog and immediately associated parts;

n form- Fig. 4 is a detail in transverse vertical section on the line 4-4 ofl Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a section taken approximately on the irre lar line 5 5 of Flg. 4, some parts being s own in full and some parts being broken away'.

In Fig. 1, the ribbon-,corrugating mechanism is indicated as an entirety Y by the.v

character A and the by the character B.

mechanism as both of unchin nasmuc these mechanisms are clearly described in, Adetail in my said prior patent, the parts thereof may be here briefly designated as follows: Of the parts of the ribbon-corrugating mechanism, in so far as it is desirable to note the same, the numeral 6 indicates a spool for holding the fin-forming brass ribbon y. This spool is supported by arms 7 of a supporting frame 8. From the spool, the ribbon is passed between ,upper and lower forming rollers 9 and a palr of corrugating rollers 10 suitably journaled in laterally spaced bearing plates 11 rigidly secured on thev to of the frame 8. The lower rollers 9 an 10 are driven throu h intermeshing gears 12. The shaft of t e lower corrugating roller y10 is provided at one projecting end with a bevel gear 13 and' at its other projecting end with a spur pinion 14. As shown, the bevel gear 13 meshes with a bevel gear 15 carried by a driving shaftl 16 journaled in a bearing bracket 17 on the frame 8 and provided with r-un to drive the rollers of the ribbon-formingl and corrugating mechanism.

igidly secured on a suitable frame 20 is a horizontal bed plate 21 on which is secured a punch-equipped plate 22. The numeral 23 indicates av vertically movable punch head located above the punch plate 22 and held for vertical movements by 'a fixed pulley 18 and a' loose pulley 19, over v which a power-driven belt, not shown,.will

said shaft is provided with a clutch hub 29 formed with a large segmental notch 30. The hub of. the pulley 28 is provided with at least one and as shown two laterally spring-pressed clutch? dogs 31 shown as elongated metal blocks set into counter sunk seats in the hub of said pulley and adapted, when released, to enter the notch 30 of the clutch hub 29 and thereby connect the driving shaft 27 to said driving pulley. The elements 29 and 31 constitute elements of a one-revolution clutch, which, so far as this invention is concerned, may take various forms but which, as illustrated, comprises also the following elements: Mounted for radial sliding movements in the hub of the pulley 28 for cooperation .one with each of the clutch dogs 31, are clutch dog latches 32, which, in themselves, are in the nature of secondary dogs and are spring-pressed radially toward the axis of the shaft 27 and normally engage notches in the cooperating clutch dogs 31, so that the latter` will be held retracted and out of engagement with the clutch hub 29, thereby leaving thefshaft 27 normally at rest while the pulley 28 continuously rotates. The latches 32 are provided with outstanding cam lugs 33 for a purpose whichl will presently appear.

The numeral 34 indicates a clutch-tripping lever pivoted to the upper frame structure 20aL at 35 and, at its free end, upwardly spring-pressed by a coiled .spring 36 that is subject to an adjusting screw 37. At its free end, the lever 34 is formed with an out. standing segmental latch-tripping flange 38 and with a segmental clutch dog retracting cam 39 that is beveled in respect to a plane to which the axis of the shaft 27 stands at a right angle. At/its intermediate portion, the lever 34 is provided with a notch 40, the .purpose of which will presently appear.

The ribbon-feeding mechanism comprises a dross-head 4l mounted toslide on horizontal guide bars 42 rigidly secured to and projecting from the bed plate 21. The corrugated ribbon jz/ is passed through a guide passage 43 of the cross-head 41 and, above said passage, said cross-head is provided with a spring-pressed driving dog 44 that is yieldingly pressed into engagement with the corrugations of the ribbon y. This dog will positively engage the corrugations of the ribbon y and cause the same to move withv said cross-head when the latter is moved from the right toward the left or toward the punching mechanism, but said dog will slip freely over the ribbon when said cross-head is moved in a reverse direction orin a direction away from the punching mechanism.

The numeral 45 indicates a longI lever that is intermediately pivoted to a fixed bearing 46 and at its left-hand is connected by an adjustable rod or link 47 t9 th@ free end of an intermediate lever 48. The free end of said lever 48 is s ring-drawn upward to theposition in Fig. 4, y a coiled spring 49.

.The intermediate portion of the lever 48 is adjustably pivoted at 50 to the lower end of a tripping bar 51 that is guided for vertical sliding movements and permitted a slight oscillatory movementy by guidelugs 52 on the upper frameportion 20a. The upper portion of the trip bar 51is bifurcated so that it freely straddles the intermediate ortion of the clutch-tripping lever 34 an at the upper portion of the slot formed by its bifurcation, said bar is provided with a bearing lug 53 that normally rests `n the upper edge of the lever 34 but is adapted to be dropped 'into the notch 40 of said lever. Also at its free upper end, the bar 5.1 is provided with a laterally offset surface 54 that is adapted to be engaged by outwardly projecting portions of the clutch dogs 31, all as will presently appear.

The right-hand end of the main lever 45 overlies and is subject to a segmental cam 55 (see Figs. 1 and 2) that is carried by a short shaft 56 j ournaled in the lower end of a supporting bar 57 that is rigidly secured and depends from one of the bearing plates 11. On the outer end of the shaft 56, by means of anut or other suitable device, is rigidly but detachably secured a spur gear 58, which, by two intermediate gears 59 and 60 journaled to said bar, is connected to aAY spur gear 61 journaled to the upper portion of said bar 57. The gear 61, by a small gear or pinion 62, is connected to the spur pinion 14 carried by the shaft of the roller 10. Preferably, and as shown, the pinion 62 is slidably mounted on a fixed spindle 63 that projects outward from the-adjacent frame pla-te 11 so that said pinion may be moved into andout of mesh with the pinion 14 and rgear 61. All of the gear elements 59, 60, 61 and 62 operate as intermediate gears between the pinion 14 and gear 58. Obviously, with the arrangement just described, the cam 55 will be rotated at a much slower speed than the pinion 14. l The segmental cam 55, as shown, is formed on one side of a larger crank disk 64 having a. wrist pin 65.

Pivoted at its lower'end to the fixed bearing 46 is an upstanding strip-feeding lever 66, the upper end of which is connected by a longitudinally adjustable link 67 to a lug 68 on thebottom of the cross-head 41. The link 67 is shown as made adjustable by providing its overlapped strip members with longitudinally spaced perforations through which a pin or small bolt 69 is adapted to be passed Slidably mounted on the intermediate portion of the lever 66 is a collar 70 that is adapted to be rigidly secured in any desired adjustment by a set screw 71. The collar 70 is connected` t the wrist p in 65 of the crank disk' 64 by a link or connecting `rod made up of a tubular member 72 and a telescoped rod 72, which elements are ada ted to be rigidly connected. together in di erent llongitudinal adjustments by a set screw 73.

' In practice, the corrugated -ribbon y will be permitted to sag or loo down a very considerable distance towar or even onto the floor, so that the slack will never be entirely taken up under the intermittent feeding action of the cross-head', and to guide the same y the corrugating mechanism at the Fdeliveriym7 Y lows:

end of its frame is shown as provided wit a curved guide plate 74, and the cross-head guide 42 at its receiving end is provided with-a similar downwardly curved guide n plate 75. l

When the corrugating and punching mechanisms are in operation, the action of the feed device will be-substantially as fol- The corrugated strip y will be delivered .from the corrugating mechanism in .an evenly flowing stream, and whilevthe ribbon is being punched, the slack portion of* the ribbon will drop down between the two f mechanisms.A In Fig. 1 the crosshead 41 is at the right or in its extreme retracted position but will receive its inward or stripfeeding movement during the next 180o of movement of the gear 58, cam 55 and crank disk 64. During the next 180 of rotation of said parts, the cross-head will be given its return or idle movement; and

it is duringthe time that this return movement takes place that the caml 55, acting on the main lever 45 and the connections described, draws downward the tripping bar 51. When the-bar 51 is thus drawn down, its bearing lug 53 will force downward the free end of the clutch-tripping lever 34, and the first effect of this is to cause the flange 38 of said lever to come in the path of movement of the lug 33 of the'first latch 32 that happens to passv the same, and by this engagement the said latch will be moved radially outward, thereby releasing the cooperating clutch dog 31 and permitting the same `to move into the notch 30 of` wheel 28 and produces one comp ete rotation of said shaft, which results in one downward and return movement of the punch head 23. Shortly after the clutch dog engaged the notch 30 of the clutch hub 29 and started the rotation of the shaft 27,

' the radially outward portion ofthe operative dog 31 came' into engagement with the flange 54 of the tri'p bar 51, thereby oscillating said bar to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4 and thereby ali ing the lug 53 with the notch 40 and permltting the lever 34 to immediately return to its forced back to its normal position shown in Fig. 5, its cooperating latch 321will again engageand retain the same in such inoperative position until-another tripping action has ta en lace. lOf course, one clutch dog 31 wouldoperative,'but the two clutch dogs cause the clutch mechanism to go into actlonv almost instantly, regardless of the rotary position of the driving wheel' 28 at the time 'the tripping action takes place.

kBy longitudinal adjustmentsI of the link 67, or by longitudinal adjustments of the links 72-72, or by adjustments of both thereof, the cross-head can be set so that it will start from just the proper outward position, and by adjustments of the collar on the oscillatory lever 66, the length of stroke imparted to the cross-head may be varied. The first noted adjustments are for the proper deliveryof the strip between the element-s of the punch, and the latter noted adjustment sets the feeding device to feed just the proper length vof corrugated ribbon for each feed movement.

As illustrated, the y machine may be assumed to be designed to .feed an eighteen-v inch length of corrugated iin strip, such as required in Ford radiators, and, hence, the feed device should be adjusted to feed eighteen inches of corrugated ribbon for each feed movement.

When the machine is to be used for a considerable length of time to feed longer ribbon strips, then the corrugating mechanism should be set to corrugate /correspondingly longer portions foreach rotation of the cam I'ni 55 and parts connected to rotate therewith. I

Nevertheless, in practice it has been found perfectly feasible to set the cross-head for feed movements exceeding, the amount of corrugated ribbon turned out by the corrugating mechanism, but such use requires that a large amount of slack be maintained in the ribbon between the corrugating mechf anism and the punching mechanism and,

moreover, it will require that occasionally the ribbon-feeding mechanism be thrown .out of action so as to produce the required excessive slack in the ribbon between the corrugating-mechanism and the punching mechanism. This may be easily done simply by temporarily sliding the intermediate pinion 62 on' its spindle 63 out of mesh with the driving pinion. 14 and intermediate gear 61. It will be understood and further noted by reference to my said prior patent, that the punching mechanism also includes a shearing device for cutting oi in proper a Gran lengths the lcorrugated ribbon after it has been punched. s

What I claim isi 1. The combination with ribbon-corrugating mechanism and ribbon-punching mechanism, the latter' receiving the corrugated ribbon from the former, of a ribbon-feeding device operative on the corrugated ribbon between the said two mechanisms and timed in respect to said corrugating mechanism, and means controlled by said feeding device for intermittently tripping the unching mechanism into action.

2. he combination with ribbon-corrugating mechanism and ribbon-punching mechanism, the latter receiving the corrugated ribbon from the former, of a ribbon-feeding device yoperative on the corrugated ribbon between the said two mecharusms and timed in respect to said corrugating mechanism, said punching mechanism mcludin a one-revolution clutch through which 1t is driven, and in further combination with a clutch-trippin device intermittently operated by said fee ing dev1ce.

3. A ribbon-corrugating mechanism includin a pair of ribbon-corrugating rollers,

It and a cam drivenA from said corrugating rollers, in combination' with ribbon-punchin mechanism, means including a one-revolution clutch for driving the ribbon-punching mechanism, and in further 'combination with axlibbonlfeeding device comprising a cross-head guide leadin to said punching mechanism, a crossead mounted on saldguide and provided with a ribbon-feeding ratchet-'acting dog, an oscillatory lever a link connecting said lever to said cross-head, a link connectin said klever to said crank, and a lever subJect to said cam and havin a connection for tri ping the one-revo ution clutch of said punching mechanism intermittently into action.

4. The structure defined in claim 3, in which the link connection between said crank and oscillating lever is slidably adjustable on the latter to vary the feed movement of said cross-head.

5. The structure defined in claim 3, in which the link connection between said oscillator lever and crank is longitudinally adjusta le.

6. The structure defined in claim 3, in

which the link connection between said oa-l Icillato lever and crank is longitudinally adjusta le and is adjustable on said oscillatory lever to vary the feed movement of said cross-head.

7. The structure defined in claim 3, in which the ylink connection between the oscillatory lever and cross-head is. longitudinally adjustable.

MEINHARn 

